Review: LAM SAM YICK 林三益 Clean Acne Bye-Bye Brush

Name: LSY 林三益 X 柳燕粉刺焕颜限定组
Price: $700 TWD - SGD$18.90 on Qoo10 (Price varies )
Website: Lam Sam Yick Official Website & Qoo10 sale page

 

 

Introduction

Lam Sam Yick was a calligraphy brush making company that started in 1917 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. The company relocated to Taiwan in 1946 and has since spanned across four generations. With the decline in use of calligraphy, the business has since ventured into the world of beauty brushes. Lam Sam Yick’s brushes are said to be incredibly soft and comfortable.

 

This Skincare brush range is made in collaboration with the Beauty Guru/ Skincare Teacher from Taiwan;  Liu Yan Teacher. She is most famous for being a regular on the hit Beauty talk show; Nu Ren Mo Zui Da. This Bye-Bye brush specifically targets removal of blackheads. The brush has a ring of short soft bristle on the outside while the inside consists of extreme fine but tough and flexible synthetic fibres.

 

 

 

 

“Clean Acne BYE-BYE Brush

Teacher Liu Yan is very particular on cleansing as cleansing is the most important step for a beautiful and healthy skin. With the collaboration with LAMSAMYICK (LSY), they have specially designed a two-layer brush which has a mix of different diameters in the inner and outer layers.

Clean Acne BYE-BYE Brush is made of Synthetic Fibers 化纖 where bristles will not break. Designed with a softer-touch exterior and a harder-touch interior bristles.With the inner layer bristles smaller than your pores made of 0.07 mm, it is able to penetrate deep into the pores where the underlying dirt are. While the 0.10 mm outer bristles are responsible for loosening the blackheads/whiteheads and acnes, accelerates the acne health and boosts metabolism time.

For those with healthy skin, this outer layer of brush can also be used to clean the deepest part of the skin, to help adjust the skin so as to prevent the growth of any blackheads and acnes.
Able to use this for your nose, hairlines and other parts.”

~ Info from Qoo10

 

Apparently the Bye-Bye blackhead is so effective in removing blackheads, Taiwanese Singer & TV host Pauline Lan even managed to remove a 10 year old blackhead with it.

 

 

Packaging

The brush came in the mail bubble wrapped but slightly crushed.

 

 

Design

First impression of the brush was the minuteness of it. As you can tell from the scale comparison below, it’s actually a pretty short and stubby brush.

 

 

I absolutely love the black velvety finishing of the handle that contrasted impeccably with the lustrous bronze tip. It feels light but sturdy in the hand and has a surprisingly good grip. In terms of design, build and finishing, I would say it is top notch and exude an air of luxury. 

 

 

Price

The original Taiwan Website sells it for 700TWD, which roughly converts to SGD$30. For such a small brush it’s easy to feel the penny pinch. However I bought it during the Qoo10 promotion at the price of $18.90 (+$1.15 shipping).

 

If this product last me for a full year without any need for replacement, I would say it’s a reasonable investment if it works.

 

Texture

When I did a swirl test on the back of my palm, it actually didn’t feel as soft as I expected. However it was very flexible and the bristles felt sturdy even when I violently swirled and pressed it down. I am under the impression that since the longer bristles are what touched the skin first, that resistive touch was probably from the tougher interior bristles. And I guess that is good since we want the longer bristles to get into our pores and sweep the gunk out without breaking inside our pores.

 

Of course, I am unable to verify that microscopic detail but to put this simply, the brush feels alright on the skin and I do not notice any irritated respond from my skin.

 

The website claims that it can be used with just clean water. But my personal experience tells me that it swirls better on a skin that is lubricated with facial cleansers be it in foam or gel form. Cleaning with just clear water makes it very hard to swirl and it drags on the skin a lot.

 

 

Maintenance

I’ve had this product for around a month now and have been using it religiously almost every night. In the first few days of using, I used it alone on the entire face. Subsequent days, I cleanse my face with my Olay Professional Pro-X Advance cleansing system first before finishing off with byebye brush. I know it’s only 1 month but I can barely see any weakening of the brush.

 

I dab the excess water off on a tissue or my towel and just leave it to dry on the edge of my toilet shelf. I do nothing else to it and the brush continues to stay clean and mould free even though it is in my humid toilet 24/7.

 

Conclusion

I was very excited to try this product after discovering it and learning what it can do. After all, my biggest skin problem stems from my pore’s inability to get rid or avoid blackhead by itself, thus the need for B’liv’s expensive Blackhead Sebum Gel.

 

 

However I was slightly disappointed after the first use as I looked into the mirror and see a face still full of tiny blackheads with gunk. So does the product work?

 

I would say that yes, the product works as a 2nd step cleansing tool to  go over the spots easily missed and prone to blackheads like the sides of the nose, near the hairline and corner of the chin. When tested a 2nd time with closer inspections,  I admit to seeing a face with lesser blackheads than before washing. However I must also frankly say that the outcome was not as dramatic as I had hoped.  I am not able to identify whether the brush works better on bigger or smaller blackheads as after washing, I still find both sizes of blackhead on the face.

 

Another con I have with the product was the amount of effort required to use it. It had to be used in circular motions on the face and going over the entire face (that’s what I did for the experiments) with such a small brush can be part of an exercise routine. My guess is that the Bye-Bye brush was designed to be used as a supplementary cleansing tool along with their BB Series - Clean Brush (a big kabuki like cleansing brush). I find that to be a big lifestyle “No-No” as that meant I need 2 different tools to maximise the cleansing and use twice as much time.

 

Would I recommend this product? I’m on the fence here as I think anyone who buys it, buys it with the hope that it will become their skincare holy grail. But the effect might not be as impactful for everyone and to a certain extend, not worth the money and effort. I’m guessing maybe it is better to just buy the BB Series - Clean Brush (Available on Qoo10 too!) and have it as an overall face cleanser since it also claims to have 0.07mm bristles.

 

I have been using the byebye brush for a few weeks with 10 days of pause in between due to travelling. But I will continue to use this product and see if my pores become smaller as time goes by as reviewed by some Taiwanese beauty bloggers.

 

I tried to be as objective as I can , hope you guys liked the review.